This page was last modified on Monday, July 26, 2010 12:37:34 PM
There are numerous projects ongoing on the Barbee Chain or certainly in our watershed. Groups that are doing projects on our watershed include the BLPOA and Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation. The BLPOA projects are typically weed control and dredging. TWF's projects are to improve our water quality. Select
TWF projects to get an idea of the type of watershed projects that are improving our water quality.
Two significant projects for the BLPOA are weed control and dredging. Dredging coordinated by the BLPOA is mostly complete after several long projects lasting into the 2010 timeframe. Therefore notes on dredging have been deleted. What follows are notes on weed control. How
much of this gets done is dependent on receiving donations to cover the expenses.
Weed Treatment Status as of 7/23/2010
This past week (July 19, and 20th) Tony Cunningham's crew sprayed for algae in all of the channels on the Barbee Chain. This is part of the agreement we have with the Clarke Corporation, in which Tony is part of. Channel spraying (for algae only) will continue throughout the summer season. Due to the lack of monies, lake-wide spraying is done for the season, unless other monies can be appropriated. A lake-wide spraying was done earlier this summer for Eurasisn milfoil and curly-leaf pondweed. We need members of the BLPOA to encourage your neighbors (if not members) to become members of the BLPOA to continue weed treatments.
Dredging Completion
Lew Huston's report from 6/19/2010
The fencing was installed on the Hartup property at 6421 McKenna Road and completed at 4:10PM June 14, 2010. The BLPOA contract with Custom Fencing was $1220. This new farm fence replaced the old fencing near the sediment dump site as per the contract. The original contract was penned with BLPOA and the Hartup family on 2/24/2006!!
Those present for the inspection included: Lillie Hartup, Aaron Hartup, Ron Miller, Mory Weyand and Lew Huston.
The final part of our contract is to level and seed grass at the barn lot area opposite the cornfield. Lew NEEDS SOME ADVICE FROM THE BOARD ABOUT POTENTIAL CONTRACTORS THAT HAVE THE SMALL EQUIPMENT TO TILL THE AREA, WHICH IS 128’X 5.5’ AND PLANT GRASS SEED.
Lew has located a storage facility that will hold the buoys and lake signs at the endo of the boating season at NO COST.
Weed Treatment Status as of 6/19/2010
On June 17-18 Tony Cunningham’s crew (Clarke) was on our lakes to spray all the channels for algae and other weeds. Reward, a contact herbicide, and copper sulfate (used for algae) were sprayed in the channels. Reward is used to control Eurasian water milfoil, elodea, duckweed and coontail. The months of June-September Tony plans to target algae and native plants in the channels. Other spraying that Tony does will need to be approved by the association due to budget constraints.
Weed Treatment Status as of 6/4/2010
On June 3rd Clarke sprayed the lakes for eurasian water millfoil and curlyleaf pond weed. Also there was some treatment for algae.
Weed Treatment Status as of 5/31/10
Due to the current high water levels weed treatment schedules have been tweaked.
On may 27th Clarke (our aquatic week company) treated 15 acres of curleyleaf pond weed throughout the chain. They also did some additional surveying for the eurasian milfoil. During the week of 5/31 they are hoping to treat the lakes and channels for eurasian milfoil given the conditions (water levels) are acceptable.
Weed Treatment Schedule for 2010 (Clarke)
· WEEK OF MAY 10, 2010
o Survey of lakes for Eurasian Watermilfoil and Curlyleaf Pondweed
o Inspection of channels to identify algae growth
· WEEK OF MAY 17, 2010
o Communication of recommended treatment acreage targeting Eurasian Watermilfoil and corresponding price to Barbee Chain of Lakes Property Owner’s Association.
o Treatment of algae in channels if necessary.
· WEEK OF MAY 17, 2010- WEEK OF MAY 24, 2010
o Treatment targeting Eurasian Watermilfoil as needed in lakes and channels.
· JUNE-SEPTEMBER 2010
o Treatment targeting algae as needed in channels*
o Treatment targeting algae in lakes as needed*
*By request if needed and supported by Association’s budget.
· AUGUST 2010
o Perform second Eurasian Watermilfoil Treatment as needed if funding proves to be available.
Note: Total Eurasian Watermilfoil program can be kept under $48,000 budget cap by using liquid 2, 4-D.
Weed Updates 9/22/09
With fall in the air, another lake season is coming to an end. All weed spraying on the lakes has come to a halt. Next year presents a challenge to us. We are anxiously awaiting to see how much monies we will receive from LARE grants. We encourage all property owners to join the association to help us maintain our lakes. Join us at our next monthly meeting, which will be held on the 10th of October. Here you will be able to voice your concerns. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Weed Updates 8/23/09
At the last (August) BLPOA meeting a main topic of the discussion was the availability of monies for weed control for next spring and summer. Tony Cunningham, our weed control applicator, had wanted to do another spraying for the eurasian milfoil weed this fall. However, we had to tell Tony that we do not have the money for this last spraying project. Therefore, the Barbee Lakes spraying project for this season has ended.
A major concern for next year is the availability of money for the spraying of the Barbee Lake chain. The two main sources of money comes from LARE grants and the number of property owners that join the BLPOA.
No one knows for sure how much money (if any) we will receive from LARE. Hopefully our share of LARE money will be equal or more than we received for this year. Our main concern is getting more property owners to join the BLPOA. Any person or family that has interests in our beautiful chain of lakes should really consider joining our organization. Part of your membership dues would go to controlling the weeds on our lakes.
Weed Status as of 7/20/09
On Saturday, July18, at the annual meeting of the BLPOA, Tony Cunningham gave us an update on the weed spraying on the Barbee chain. Tony is the major applicator for Weed Patrol, Inc. According to Tony, the main spraying this year has been for the Eurasian milfoil and the algae. Algae blooms have been a major problem this year on all lakes. Tony mentioned that the heavy rains have contributed to the increase in algae blooms. The heavy rains have caused more runoff that helps to "feed" the algae. Tony urged that property owners be very careful what they put on their lawns. For instance, people that fertilize their lawns should use lake-friendly fertilizer. This means that you should use fertilizer that contains no phosphates (the middle number on the bag should read 0).
Property owners that have had trouble with native weeds can individually contact Tony for spraying next year. This spraying would have to be paid entirely by the property owner. There will be further details later on this web site how you can contact Tony.
Weed Status as of 6/20/09
Neil Schwartz reported that milfoil and curly leaf treatments in lake waters and channels had been completed. Tony Cunningham noted that the curly leaf population had greatly diminished and that he would see if LARE funds for curly leaf spraying could be transferred to cover the cost of milfoil treatment.
A lake-wide treatment for algae will be completed prior to the July 4th week-end. Any additional algae treatment in channels will be delayed until we can be sure we have adequate funds.
Weed Status as of 5/28/09
With the inclement weather and high water our weed spraying schedule has been delayed for at least two weeks. June 1st will be the earliest that spraying will start. Tony Cunningham, our weed control applicator, says he is way behind schedule due to the bad weather and high waters. Apparently the last few years spraying of the curlyleaf has been successful. However, the milfoil is showing up in great numbers. We encourage all property owners to become members of the BLPOA and to contribute to the high cost of the chemicals for spraying. With the LARE grants being considerably lower this year we need more people to become members of this beneficial organization.
Weed Treatment Info
Weed treatment only happens if the exotic weeds are found to be present. Curly leaf pond weed (left below) and eurasian milfoil (right below) are the targeted exotics.
LARE monies do not cover treatment of our 41.3 acres of channels (There are 702 houses on the Barbee Lake Chain channels). It pertains only to lake front areas. The expense of channel treatment is a separate contract price between Weed Patrol and our Association!
Please remember to use only “lake friendly” lawn fertilizers. These are available at most retail outlets. ONE pound of phosphorus can produce up to 10,000 pounds of lake vegetation!!!!!! If you use a commercial company to care for your lawn, please specify NO phosphates on your lawn, and GET IT IN WRITING!!!
If you are a paid member and have made a donation to the weed control and feel you have a problem, please contact me. Otherwise I cannot help you. Please visit our website for further information and contacts (www.barbeelakes.org).